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Friday, September 10, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Fashion's Night Out 2010
Chicagoans! (To Celebrate Global Event)
http://www.shopwatertower.com/events/fashions-night-out
New York! (& elsewhere)
www.fashionsnightout.com
CBS 2 had a special this week on "Fashion's Night Out."
Hope you were able to see it! :)
http://www.shopwatertower.com/events/fashions-night-out
New York! (& elsewhere)
www.fashionsnightout.com
CBS 2 had a special this week on "Fashion's Night Out."
Hope you were able to see it! :)
September Vogue
September Issues
This month, I am paging through "Elle" and "Vogue." Both magazines are replete with fashion from start to finish, fashion that speaks to the tastes of a great many people. As I flipped past pages, I thought of random people I had met over the years who commented on my "good taste." I also saw the great amount of thought and work it takes to compile such books.
These thoughts crossed my mind as flashbacks, and the strangers I met were all either recent acquaintances or within isolated meetings. I recollect that they chose various items to comment on whether they were an accessory or a dress I had on. I didn't know at first what would make people wonder about these particular items.
At first, I thought they were all random coincidences, and I gave them no thought.
Then one day when someone stooped to observe an umbrella I had, sprawled next to my briefcase, I began to reflect. I gather it had fallen onto the floor and was perceived as a fashionable scarf.
"What a lovely scarf! Where did you get that?"
I was really taken aback. It had been a gift from a visiting uncle from Florida, and my mom had given it to me some twenty years back.
As I looked at the intent gaze, I had to correct the lady and say that it was an umbrella and not a scarf. I felt a little awkward, and I wished it had been a scarf, so that I could avoid how I was feeling.
A pattern I noticed later was that the people were giving me this air that they missed these items in their life, and some of the comments were less than complimentary.
I also found their queries had to do with people who were a little bit more curious than they should be about how I acquired the purchases. Once at a library, people started to ask me if I was going to a party when I was wearing items from the casuals sales rack. I started to "dress" down in casual overalls and carpenter pants just to get rid of paparazzis who always thought I was going out. I also noticed these people would wear drab and uninteresting pieces at the public library, and they all looked homeless to me. I wondered if that was the latest trend, to look homeless.
So, when I was told by my supervisor, that I looked "too good" and "cute" in the overalls, even, I thought that was the last straw. I think they thought I was showing off my clothes.
(BTW, when I bought the overalls at JC Penney's, the clerk had dissuaded me from buying them by saying they wouldn't fit me. They fit me perfectly! :) I knew my body type and size, which was a plus. I'm glad I didn't listen to her. I think she was a new immigrant who hadn't yet figured out that under loose clothing, Asian women can fit form - fitting and petite clothing, too. We have the best of both worlds. :)
I began to formulate from random comments that they thought I had acquired the items through a certain person or entity that I was not altogether aware of.
Recently, I have been aware of a new group of consumers who seem to envy what you have and are not really happy that you have the item. This is with everything. A dress I have had for years, or even something that I don't even remember where I purchased seems to cause the greatest commotion.
Their comments have to do with wanting to duplicate everything I own. It is a little frightening, if not flattering. I suppose it depends on the person and the context in which I am approached.
It is not they are poor, or do not have the means to purchase items I own. It is merely that they are sharing with me that their chances have not been the same as mine. If I could only tell them that my chances have been too few and sparse as nearly as any other person's, but it would take an entire history text of my life to explain this fact.
I took these events lightly, but now that their envy is causing them to act in strange manner around me, I am beginning to be a little wary. Some of these people's eyes are seething with rage and greed over some items I possess.
I hope the pattern will revert back to encounters that had to do with compliments and not simply make me feel cautious about life and people in general again.
I suppose it has to do with the economic grind that everyone around me seems to be facing and the shortage of seeing things in print or images around them.
I realize now that most of the items I own are things that have been with me forever. When I was younger, I never went shopping. I was so much of a homebody, that my parents had to ask me to move out. :)
So, when I finally did leave, I felt the euphoric exuberance that all women felt when they first entered a store. No more hand me downs from aunts and uncles. Of course, I still will receive an occasional blouse or skirt on a birthday from my parents, but most of the things I have are from my experiences I had shopping over fifteen years ago. I actually reveled in the experience of actually purchasing something for the first time for myself.
I have simply not been wearing the items or not going out for a number of reasons.
I had been suffering from bouts of insomnia off and on for a great number of years from people who wouldn't let me sleep all night long. As a result, I haven't been able to go out during the day to acquire any new clothing. A lot of the items I have are random things I bought for work or for personal wear to weddings and other events.
At the time, I had also been reading fashion magazines and had friends who also loved reading and flipping through pages with me. We would get together for discussions on late afternoons and evenings. These magazines were anything from "W" and "Bazaar" and even "Vogue." I always looked at various samples. I saved them and reread them also. I loved how the photographers and models all modeled the items, and I began to form a mental tablet of things with which I identified or liked. I compared and contrasted my tastes with my friends or with those on television.
I looked at some fashion worn by famous celebrities and politicians' wives. I looked at old film books and old fashion catalogs.
Unaware of all this reading's effect on my likes and dislikes, I started to buy things on a whim. I didn't go to buy every item I saw, but sometimes, I would buy something that reminded me of something I had seen or read. I also like browsing, popping in and out of stores. Once, I walked into a Suburban store, and I saw a lot of items reminiscent of Oleg Cassini. I thought that was splendid and went back to the store whenever my trips afforded me the time.
To clear up the mystery to even myself, I think my good taste was shaped by reading magazines over time, and friends who had good taste (from the past) also shared and shaped my tastes.
It is difficult to tell people that no someone didn't purchase that for me, and I didn't buy it to make other people think I am wealthy or anything. I bought the items, because they appealed to me in some way. If I like someone, I fit it in my budget. It really has to grab at me and can't be a passing fancy or a whim. Once in a while (if really awake), I can reward myself with a purchase.
I am also very practical when it comes to be a consumer. Once I bought a Kenneth Cole item that was marked down from $500 to just about $40. It was good timing, and I actually did need the item as I was starting a new job, and I wanted something that looked professional at the time.
Another time, I decided to walk into Value City, and I saw items I needed for work. They were all marked down to about $10 or $12. I bought them not for the price, but that the design and fabric on those items were incredible. The prices were, of course, good timing. People never got over those skirts, either. I had no idea, but when I walked into my room at work, everyone wanted to finger the texture of the fabric, even small children who were trying to figure out the concept of how fabric shifted with movement and how colors (shadows) played just when the light hit it the skirt.
It was like magic to their eyes. I still have heads turn when I wear that item, too.
So, there is no real mystery of how certain consumers shop, really.
You just have to know yourself, what you like, and surround yourself with friends with good taste that will eventually rub off on you.
And your shopping habits will follow, I promise!
This month, I urge readers to procure a copy of some of the September Issues out there. Stay home and peruse the pages.
Go browsing and view offerings when not reading.
You don't know what you are missing!
~ J.
(P.S. If you are involved in Fashion today, share a magazine with someone who doesn't always have the time to read or even read. Magazines increase literacy about life, culture, people and more!)
This month, I am paging through "Elle" and "Vogue." Both magazines are replete with fashion from start to finish, fashion that speaks to the tastes of a great many people. As I flipped past pages, I thought of random people I had met over the years who commented on my "good taste." I also saw the great amount of thought and work it takes to compile such books.
These thoughts crossed my mind as flashbacks, and the strangers I met were all either recent acquaintances or within isolated meetings. I recollect that they chose various items to comment on whether they were an accessory or a dress I had on. I didn't know at first what would make people wonder about these particular items.
At first, I thought they were all random coincidences, and I gave them no thought.
Then one day when someone stooped to observe an umbrella I had, sprawled next to my briefcase, I began to reflect. I gather it had fallen onto the floor and was perceived as a fashionable scarf.
"What a lovely scarf! Where did you get that?"
I was really taken aback. It had been a gift from a visiting uncle from Florida, and my mom had given it to me some twenty years back.
As I looked at the intent gaze, I had to correct the lady and say that it was an umbrella and not a scarf. I felt a little awkward, and I wished it had been a scarf, so that I could avoid how I was feeling.
A pattern I noticed later was that the people were giving me this air that they missed these items in their life, and some of the comments were less than complimentary.
I also found their queries had to do with people who were a little bit more curious than they should be about how I acquired the purchases. Once at a library, people started to ask me if I was going to a party when I was wearing items from the casuals sales rack. I started to "dress" down in casual overalls and carpenter pants just to get rid of paparazzis who always thought I was going out. I also noticed these people would wear drab and uninteresting pieces at the public library, and they all looked homeless to me. I wondered if that was the latest trend, to look homeless.
So, when I was told by my supervisor, that I looked "too good" and "cute" in the overalls, even, I thought that was the last straw. I think they thought I was showing off my clothes.
(BTW, when I bought the overalls at JC Penney's, the clerk had dissuaded me from buying them by saying they wouldn't fit me. They fit me perfectly! :) I knew my body type and size, which was a plus. I'm glad I didn't listen to her. I think she was a new immigrant who hadn't yet figured out that under loose clothing, Asian women can fit form - fitting and petite clothing, too. We have the best of both worlds. :)
I began to formulate from random comments that they thought I had acquired the items through a certain person or entity that I was not altogether aware of.
Recently, I have been aware of a new group of consumers who seem to envy what you have and are not really happy that you have the item. This is with everything. A dress I have had for years, or even something that I don't even remember where I purchased seems to cause the greatest commotion.
Their comments have to do with wanting to duplicate everything I own. It is a little frightening, if not flattering. I suppose it depends on the person and the context in which I am approached.
It is not they are poor, or do not have the means to purchase items I own. It is merely that they are sharing with me that their chances have not been the same as mine. If I could only tell them that my chances have been too few and sparse as nearly as any other person's, but it would take an entire history text of my life to explain this fact.
I took these events lightly, but now that their envy is causing them to act in strange manner around me, I am beginning to be a little wary. Some of these people's eyes are seething with rage and greed over some items I possess.
I hope the pattern will revert back to encounters that had to do with compliments and not simply make me feel cautious about life and people in general again.
I suppose it has to do with the economic grind that everyone around me seems to be facing and the shortage of seeing things in print or images around them.
I realize now that most of the items I own are things that have been with me forever. When I was younger, I never went shopping. I was so much of a homebody, that my parents had to ask me to move out. :)
So, when I finally did leave, I felt the euphoric exuberance that all women felt when they first entered a store. No more hand me downs from aunts and uncles. Of course, I still will receive an occasional blouse or skirt on a birthday from my parents, but most of the things I have are from my experiences I had shopping over fifteen years ago. I actually reveled in the experience of actually purchasing something for the first time for myself.
I have simply not been wearing the items or not going out for a number of reasons.
I had been suffering from bouts of insomnia off and on for a great number of years from people who wouldn't let me sleep all night long. As a result, I haven't been able to go out during the day to acquire any new clothing. A lot of the items I have are random things I bought for work or for personal wear to weddings and other events.
At the time, I had also been reading fashion magazines and had friends who also loved reading and flipping through pages with me. We would get together for discussions on late afternoons and evenings. These magazines were anything from "W" and "Bazaar" and even "Vogue." I always looked at various samples. I saved them and reread them also. I loved how the photographers and models all modeled the items, and I began to form a mental tablet of things with which I identified or liked. I compared and contrasted my tastes with my friends or with those on television.
I looked at some fashion worn by famous celebrities and politicians' wives. I looked at old film books and old fashion catalogs.
Unaware of all this reading's effect on my likes and dislikes, I started to buy things on a whim. I didn't go to buy every item I saw, but sometimes, I would buy something that reminded me of something I had seen or read. I also like browsing, popping in and out of stores. Once, I walked into a Suburban store, and I saw a lot of items reminiscent of Oleg Cassini. I thought that was splendid and went back to the store whenever my trips afforded me the time.
To clear up the mystery to even myself, I think my good taste was shaped by reading magazines over time, and friends who had good taste (from the past) also shared and shaped my tastes.
It is difficult to tell people that no someone didn't purchase that for me, and I didn't buy it to make other people think I am wealthy or anything. I bought the items, because they appealed to me in some way. If I like someone, I fit it in my budget. It really has to grab at me and can't be a passing fancy or a whim. Once in a while (if really awake), I can reward myself with a purchase.
I am also very practical when it comes to be a consumer. Once I bought a Kenneth Cole item that was marked down from $500 to just about $40. It was good timing, and I actually did need the item as I was starting a new job, and I wanted something that looked professional at the time.
Another time, I decided to walk into Value City, and I saw items I needed for work. They were all marked down to about $10 or $12. I bought them not for the price, but that the design and fabric on those items were incredible. The prices were, of course, good timing. People never got over those skirts, either. I had no idea, but when I walked into my room at work, everyone wanted to finger the texture of the fabric, even small children who were trying to figure out the concept of how fabric shifted with movement and how colors (shadows) played just when the light hit it the skirt.
It was like magic to their eyes. I still have heads turn when I wear that item, too.
So, there is no real mystery of how certain consumers shop, really.
You just have to know yourself, what you like, and surround yourself with friends with good taste that will eventually rub off on you.
And your shopping habits will follow, I promise!
This month, I urge readers to procure a copy of some of the September Issues out there. Stay home and peruse the pages.
Go browsing and view offerings when not reading.
You don't know what you are missing!
~ J.
(P.S. If you are involved in Fashion today, share a magazine with someone who doesn't always have the time to read or even read. Magazines increase literacy about life, culture, people and more!)
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